Map the Stars
by ct522
Summary: The course of intimacy never did run smooth for Katniss and Peeta. But Peeta calls on the stars to aid his cause. Everlark Drabble. Fluff for its own sake.


Katniss' belly beneath Peeta's palm felt smooth and warm, and reminded him in that mad moment of abandon of bread dough after it had just risen. He didn't think he could tell her that - he had no idea how Katniss would feel about being compared to pasty, sticky dough.

She moved her hips, instinctively seeking relief for what afflicted them both - the hunger that seemed to grow painfully acute and flare up between them more and more often lately. It had taken months after his return to District 12 for them to even speak to one another in a way that was not halting, unsure or punctuated with death. They'd progressed to holding each other through the night as their minds wracked them with memories of explosions, electric shocks, mutts and death - the nightmares always hideous and demented in their myriad forms.

And then one night, Katniss had reached out to Peeta and it wasn't out of fear. And it wasn't out of a need for comfort. It was born of want and desire - as primal as the feeling that had overtaken them that night on the beach. When they'd come together that first time, they both knew what they'd done and yet were unsure of exactly what had occurred, finding themselves a little awed by it. After all, they'd emerged from a society that saw fit to sell sex like it had seen fit to sell the murder of children. They knew the mechanics of how it all worked very well. What those programs failed to convey was the utter comfort, the sense of completeness that came with being as close to someone as they had been to one another.

So they explored each other, wrapped in the newness of their intimacy. But it was not without it's limits. Peeta's hand slipped under Katniss' t-shirt, seeking out the tender swell of her breasts and made to remove it, desperate to feel her chest against his, to erase the barrier that kept her heat from mingling directly with his.

"No, Peeta, not the shirt," she'd whispered.

Never without her shirt. Or her night gown. Or her pajama top. She'd explained, in that way she had of meaning more than the words she used, that she could not bear to expose herself to him. She was ashamed of her body - she felt hideous, encased in the web of her scars. And he appeased her. He never took more than what she could give.

But after, when they'd freed themselves temporarily from the need to satiate that particular hunger, Peeta took his finger and began tracing the lick of flame on her thigh.

"What are you doing?" Katniss said, her voice heavy with drowsy satisfaction.

"I'm mapping Andromeda. Do you know it is the closest galaxy to ours?"

Katniss chuckled, twitching under the gentle pressure of his finger. "No, I didn't. Is that what those books Effie sends you say?"

"Mmm… yeah. The constellation is named after a princess who was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Luckily, someone came along and saved her and then married her." His eyes twinkled in humor as he said this.

"Well, that was nice of him," she said wryly.

"And here is Carina," he continued, running his forefinger up over her hip. This was a pointed scar that spread over her hip in long tendrils which dissipated over her flat belly. "It means 'keel' as in the keel of a ship. She's the prow of a mythic ship called the Argos. A bunch of guys signed up to go adventuring on this ship and they became known as the Argonauts."

"Are you trying to give me a hint?" she teased, curious as to where he was going with this.

"Nope. I've had enough adventures to last a lifetime." He said this as his hand slipped under her t-shirt. "There's another one here but I can't see it."

"Really?" she said wryly, her grey eyes squinting suspiciously at Peeta as he worked to get his head under the shirt but squirmed when it wouldn't stretch far enough.

"Oh, alright!" she said in exasperation, hiking the t-shirt up to her breasts, careful not to expose them.

Peeta thoughtfully tapped his lip with his forefinger. "Just as I thought. This is Maia. She's one of the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters," Peeta stared with exaggerated concentration.

"Seven Sisters? What's their sad story?"

"Orion, the Hunter, was pursuing them and to escape his 'attentions,' they were eventually turned into stars. Couldn't take no for an answer, I suppose. Come on, there's one more."

"Peeta…" Katniss said in a tone that was very much a warning.

"Hey," he said with as much innocence as he could muster. "I have a story to tell. Just one more and then you can cover yourself up again."

Katniss' face became serious as she pulled her shirt off over her head. She brought her forearms down over her breasts, her eyes losing the humor of only a few moments ago, growing wide with fear instead.

Peeta gently nudged her arm aside, exposing the lines that flamed over her shoulder and across her right breast, just missing the nipple and areola by a hair. Peeta smile down at Katniss and used his thumb to brush along the puckered, red lines.

"This is Gemma, the brightest star in Corona Borealis. It means "gem" as in Jewel of the Crown. A thing of beauty that lights up the night sky on the other side of the world. No one can see it from here because it's hidden below the equator. But it's there and somewhere, someone is looking up at the star and their breath is being taken away by its beauty even as we speak."

Katniss stared at him and slowly lowered her arms. "You're a sneaky bastard, you know that?"

Peeta shrugged, and lowered his head to kiss the trail of scars from her shoulder over the firm mound of her breast. Katniss closed her eyes, to focus on the incredible sensation of his lips on her. It was the first time her nipples had found a home in the warmth of his mouth and it brought her to the point of incomprehension. "Peeta," she moaned, arching her back instinctively against his mouth.

"Mmmm." he hummed, and she felt the vibration race through to the deepest part of her belly. He kneaded her soft flesh, reveling in the thrill of holding her breasts for the first time without barriers, searching for the sensation that would bring her the most pleasure. He left a line of wet kisses up over her neck until he'd captured her earlobe in his teeth, tugging gently. "Want your t-shirt back?" he said smugly.

Katniss tugged at Peeta's curls and, not very gently, pushed his head down over her breasts. "Oh, shut up."


End file.
